Add items to the Windows Media Player Library

You can use the Windows Media Player Library to organize your entire digital media collection on your computer, including music, video, and pictures. After you add files to your Player Library, you can play the files, burn mix CDs, create playlists, sync the files to portable music and video players, and stream the files to other devices on your home network. There are several methods you can use to add files to your Player Library:

Monitoring folders. When you start the Player for the first time, it automatically searches certain default folders included in the Music, Pictures, Videos, and Recorded TV libraries on your computer. If you ever add or remove files from these media libraries, the Player will automatically update its available media files. You can also include new folders in your Windows libraries from other locations on your computer or from removable storage devices.

Add media files that you play. When you play a media file on your computer or from a removable storage device, the file is automatically included in your Player Library so you can access it directly from the Player. And if you have access to remote media files stored on other computers on your network, you can change the Player's settings to add
these remote files to your Player Library when you play them. The Player doesn't automatically add a file that you play from
removable media, such as a CD or DVD.

Rip music from a CD. You can use the Player to rip tracks from your audio CDs. During ripping, the tracks are saved as files on your computer. For information about ripping music from a CD, see Rip music from a CD.

Download music and videos from online stores. You can access online stores from within the Player. Once you do so, you can download music and video files from the online stores. For information about online stores, see Shop online in Windows Media Player.

The Player automatically adds files from your computer to the Player Library when you play them. If you want to play media files without
adding them to the Player Library, then you can easily turn off the feature. You can also choose to automatically add remote
media files (files stored on other computers on your network) to your Player Library when you play them.

You can use the Windows Media Player library to help you organize your entire digital media collection on your computer, including music, videos, and pictures. Once you add files to your library, you can play the files, burn mix CDs, create playlists, sync the files to portable music and video players, and share the files with other devices on your home network. There are several methods you can use to add files to your library:

Monitoring folders. When you start the Player for the first time, it automatically searches certain default folders on your computer for music, video, and picture files, and then adds those files to your library. If you ever add or remove files from these folders, the Player automatically updates the library accordingly. You can change which folders the Player monitors if you store some of your digital media files in a location that is not already monitored automatically.

Add media files that you play. When you play a file on your computer or on the Internet, the Player automatically adds the file to your library if it isn't already in your library. The Player does not automatically add a file that you play from removable storage media, a removable storage device, or on a shared network folder. For example, if you play a file that is stored on a CompactFlash card, a data CD, or in a shared folder on another computer on your network, the Player will not automatically add the file to your library.

Rip music from a CD. You can use the Player to rip tracks from your audio CDs. During ripping, the tracks are created as files on your computer.

Download music and videos from online stores. You can sign up with online stores from within the Player. Once you do so, you can download music and video files from the online stores.

My personal folders. Use this option to monitor the digital media files stored in your personal Music, Pictures, and Videos folders, as well as any files stored in the public Music, Pictures, and Video folders that everyone who uses your computer has access to.

My folders and those of others that I can access. Use this option to monitor the digital media files stored in your personal Music, Pictures, and Videos folders, the files stored in the public Music, Pictures, and Video folders, as well as the files stored in the personal Music, Pictures, and Videos folders that belong to other users on your computer. Note that you can only monitor the files stored in another user's personal folder if that person has chosen to share the folder with you. For information about how to share a folder with another person on your computer, see Windows Help and Support.

Click Advanced Options, and then do any of the following:

To monitor additional folders, click Add, and then specify the location of the folder.

To stop monitoring a folder that you previously added, click the folder that you want to remove from the list, and then click Remove. To stop monitoring a folder that has been automatically added, click the folder, and then click Ignore.

To specify whether the Player should add files previously deleted from the library, select or clear the Add files previously deleted from library check box.

To prevent files that are smaller than a certain size from being added to the library, enter the file size limits in the Audio files and Video files boxes.